INDIANAPOLIS – Indiana State Police (ISP) troopers responded Thursday afternoon to a multi-vehicle accident that claimed one life and seriously injured another.
At around 5:20 p.m., dispatchers began receiving frantic 911 calls about a crash on I-465 eastbound near U.S. 31 (East Street) on the south side of Indianapolis. When first responders arrived they located a heavily damaged car with a person entrapped and unresponsive. There were also two semis and two other passenger cars involved.
Two people were transported by ambulance to hospitals and one person was pronounced dead at the scene.
The preliminary investigation by ISP crash reconstructionists determined the driver of a semi-tractor trailer failed to slow down as he approached backed-up traffic on I-465. The semi struck three cars and another semi.
The fatality was a nine-year-old boy who was a backseat passenger in a car. The driver of that car was also critically injured. A five-year-old girl, also in that car, had non-life-threatening injuries.
This is an ongoing investigation. Neither alcohol nor drugs is suspected to be a contributing factor in this crash. Investigators believe excessive speed played a role in the accident and the semi-driver’s non-compliance with the Federal Motor Carrier’s regulations on allotted service hours.
All eastbound lanes of I-465 were closed for hours, at U.S. 31, for the investigation and cleanup.
